Plot: What’s it about?
I had taken off work a bit early that day to go see Spider-Man around 11 AM. The line was around the corner and I thought that this might indicate something. Six weeks and $400 million dollars later, it seems that I was right. Spider-Man has finally reached the silver screen (and now the "big" small screen via DVD) and what are we in for? For those non-comic book lovers out there, let me educate you a little bit (I used to read comics until about ten years ago and while a lot has changed, the basis behind this movie is something that I know about). Spidey (as he’ll affectionately be called form here on out) was the brainchild of one Stan Lee. Mr. Lee, aside from appearing in Mallrats a few years ago, has really hit the gold mine with the success of this film and X-Men (next Summer’s X-Men 2 will likely be a major hit as well). Stan Lee developed a comic book character unlike any that had been invented before. Sure, there was Superman, but he was from another planet and was indestructible. Spidey was a normal teenage kid with problems like everyone has at that age. He was an outcast, smart and not well-liked by others. Bitten by a radioactive spider, he now had super-strength, the ability to spin webs (though the movie faults here, as the comic book Spidey had to mix his own formula and his webs were a product of a mechanical device) and had an eerie sense of when something was about to happen. But movies are a work of fiction and Director Sam Raimi was a loyal devotee of the series. This is his vision and here is Spider-Man…
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is a regular teenage kid. He lusts after his next door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and has problems at school. He’s smart, average-looking and interested in science. When it comes to a social life, he doesn’t really seem to have one. His only real "friend" is Harry Osborne (James Franco) who is the son of Norman Osborne (Willem Defoe), who turns out to be Spidey’s arch nemesis – The Green Goblin. On a field trip, Peter is bitten by a spider that gives him all of the above mentioned powers. Not knowing what to do with them, he decides to use his powers to help people. The irony here is that no matter how hard he tries, he’s still neglected by the public and no one really knows what to think of him. His identity is secret and as his infatuation for Mary Jane grows, he still can’t tell her (or anyone else) that he’s the guy that everyone else is talking about! He has graduated from school and gets a freelance job as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. Obviously we know that Peter Parker and Spidey are one and the same, so he turns this into his advantage by becoming "Spider-Man’s official photographer". This not only provides a source of revenue for Peter, but adds to his mystique as well. But it’s not long before an experiment at Norman Osborne’s company goes wrong and he is transformed into The Green Goblin who’s out to destroy anyone and everything. What ever will Spidey do to save the city?
Spider-Man is just good old-fashioned fun. If you’re familiar with the storyline then you’ve got a leg up on most people. As popular as the comic was, there’s a lot of people out there who don’t know a lick about Spidey or his past. Kirsten Dunst was perfectly cast as Mary Jane and I’ll sit through a movie with her bouncing around in the rain any day of the week! Where the film hits a stumbling block is the CGI effects. This has been said before and I’ll reinforce it — they SUCK! I mean really, I think I could have done a better job. Now maybe they were strapped for cash or maybe they were just in a hurry, either way it really took away from the believability of the movie. It really breaks your concentration when you think "Man, that did not look real at all"! Still, the movie made money and there’s bound to be a Spider-Man II (and we’ll likely see three or four of them as long as they keep generating a profit). This was a good introduction to the world of Spider-Man, but hopefully more installments will shed a little light on some other things. I did mention that Mary Jane was cast and I do believe Tobey Maguire’s performance as the misunderstood teenager. But I just had a hard time believing that a "Super Hero" would talk like a total geek. Maguire is a great actor, I’m not denying that, but I just don’t buy him as a hero for the city of New York. Still, maybe I’m not looking deep enough here. In any case, those of you who are reading this will most likely buy it regardless of what I say, so I will say that fans of the movie won’t be disappointed.
Video: How does it look?
The 1.85:1 anamorphic image looks good for the most part. Personally, I thought it was a bit too over-saturated in some parts, like the reds were way turned up or something. There are some key scenes in the film that have a noticeable grain to them as well. Now don’t get me wrong, it was mastered from a high-definition transfer, so there’s nothing wrong with the material here. The supplements are spread over two discs, so there’s not a space issue. So why does this look so sub-par? It’s not un-watchable, certainly not in the least. I suppose it’s the fact that Columbia/Tristar has had a reputation for setting such high standards for so long that when a major title like this looks the way it does, we wonder why…
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track does a good job here. Of course, being a new movie to DVD and an "action extravaganza" at that, we can all hope for a very robust soundtrack with plenty of effects to keep our heads spinning throughout the entire 121 minutes of the film. And, for the most part, it does. While not quite as impressive as I would have thought, or hoped, Spider-Man does deliver on several occasions. The opening credits are good, full of discrete surround effects and when The Green Goblin appears, his pumpkin bombs sound amazing when they explode. There seems to be something missing, though and I’m not sure what it is. What I can say is that the track is above average and viewers won’t be let down in the least by the 5.1 soundtrack.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Spider-Man, as expected, has been released as a two-disc Special Edition. Columbia/Tristar, following suit with some other major studios, has released this in two different versions, a full-frame and a widescreen version. The widescreen version was reviewed here and the extras start out on the first disc with two audio commentaries. The first is with Raimi, Kirsten Dunst and Grant Curtis (Producer). The track is pretty good, fairly active on all accounts and has a lot of information about the shoot. I wanted to hear more from Dunst (I’m essentially interested in anything she says, mainly because of the way she looks), but it’s mainly Raimi’s show here. The second commentary with John Dykstra and his Visual Effects crew. First off, I’ll say that they don’t spend two hours saying "I’m sorry these effects look so bad", but they do comment on some of them and explain the logic behind them. I’m still convinced that they could look a whole lot better than they did. We also get some theatrical trailers and cast bios, two music videos ("Hero" and "What We’re All About") as well as a factiod track that pops up Spidey’s head. Similar to that of InfiniFilm, just click on the head and be greeted with some interesting facts about the scene or person in question. Some DVD-ROM material rounds out the first disc with some weblinks, a "Countdown to Spider-Man 2" and there’s even a neat feature that lets you record your own commentary track.
This brings us to the second disc which is aptly-titled "Web of Spider-Man" which was the name of one of his comic book series’ (he’s had four to my count). Web of Spider-Man focuses on the comic and the movie itself. The comic section of it is broken down into some interviews with different artists (John Romita, John Romita Jr., Todd McFarland, Stan Lee and John Byrne to name a few) all telling of their involvement with the character and their passion for him. We can select literally any year from when Spidey was "born" until now and there’s a brief synopsis of what happened along with a cool cover from that year. Also included is a gallery of some of his famous villains throughout the years (Doc Ock, Electro and The Sandman to name a few) as well as a gallery of his former loves (for a guy who’s "socially inept" he sure does have some fine women in his life) culminating with Mary Jane Watson, who was played by Dunst in the movie. Also included are some tips and tricks for the Activision game by the same name. This then brings us to the "other" portion of the disc in that it deals with the theatrical aspect of things. This side is entitled "Goblin’s Lair" and has some of the more "standard" features that we’re used to seeing on discs. First up is the aptly titled "Making of Spider-Man" in which HBO has taken a first look at the behind the scenes production of the film. This is your "standard" EPK featurette here and it’s followed by Entertainment Tonight’s feature on the Spider-Mania that followed the release of the film. Interviews with the cast and crew are shown and by now we’re all sick of them and just want to watch Kirsten Dunst play in the rain some more! Next up are a few profiles with Director Sam Raimi and Composer Danny Elfman and both are very intelligently-written. We all know Raimi from his days with the Evil Dead movies and Elfman has written almost every famous score you can think of (though my favorite is the theme to "The Simpson’s"). There are some very brief screen-tests and a gag/outtake reel that could have been a lot more funny (Raimi seems like a slave-driver)! All in all, Spider-Man delivers the goods and fans will be more than happy with the set here. I felt the effects took away from the movie, but that’s just me. After all, I was entertained and it’s worth your money to pick this up.
